| Name | Me, Natalie |
|---|---|
| Caption | Original poster |
| Director | Fred Coe |
| Producer | Stanley Shapiro |
| Writer | A. Martin Zweiback |
| Starring | Patty DukeJames Farentino |
| Music | Henry ManciniRod McKuen |
| Cinematography | Arthur J. Ornitz |
| Editing | Sheila BakermanJohn McSweeney Jr. |
| Studio | Cinema Center Films |
| Distributor | National General Pictures |
| Released | |
| Runtime | 111 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
After she discovers her father's plan, Natalie leaves home and moves to Greenwich Village, where she rents an apartment from eccentric Miss Dennison and sets out to enjoy a Bohemian lifestyle. She finds employment as a cocktail waitress at the Topless Bottom Club and befriends drug-addicted go-go dancer Shirley Norton. Although she contemplates suicide after discovering her aspiring artist lover David Harris is married, he finally convinces her she's a worthwhile human being and not the ugly duckling she imagines herself to be.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times found it to be "as conventional and corny as warmed-over "Young at Heart" . . . a pleasant film, very funny at times . . . Patty Duke, as Natalie, supplies a wonderful performance."
TV Guide considers the film "somewhat bland" but calls Duke "a wonder" and adds, "Handled by a lesser actress, the results might have seemed more stereotypical, but Duke is convincing."
Category:1969 films Category:American comedy films Category:1960s comedy films Category:Comedy-drama films Category:Films set in New York City Category:English-language films
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| Name | Natalie Grant |
|---|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
| Born | December 21, 1971 |
| Origin | Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Genre | Contemporary Christian music |
| Occupation | singer, songwriter |
| Years active | 1999-present |
| Label | Curb Records |
| Url | http://www.nataliegrant.com/ |
She has a passion to see an end to human trafficking. She was affected by an episode of Law & Order that dealt with the topic and began researching. Her studies led her and her husband to travel to India to witness the red-light districts and what is being done to stop them. That experience, coming in the middle of a restless, stressed-out season for her, completely changed the trajectory of Natalie's life, awakening her out of complacency and passivity and into a life driven by compassion and passion. And it has forever changed the way she approaches her music.
Grant's eighth album, Love Revolution, was released on August 24, 2010.
Natalie and producer husband, Bernie Herms have fraternal twin girls, Grace Ana and Isabella Noelle. On December 17th, 2010, Grant gave birth to their third child, Sadie Rose in Nashville, TN.
;Other Albums
Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:American Christians Category:People from Seattle, Washington Category:Performers of Christian music Category:Christian songwriters
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| Caption | Portman at the premiere of Black Swan during the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Natalie Hershlag() |
| Birth date | June 09, 1981 |
| Birth place | Jerusalem, Israel |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Partner | Benjamin Millepied (2010-present) |
In 2001, Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, alongside Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Portman's directorial debut, Eve, opened the 65th Venice International Film Festival's shorts competition in 2008.
In 2011, Portman was nominated for her third Golden Globe award for her performance in Black Swan. She is engaged to ballet dancer Benjamin Millepied. Her father, Avner Hershlag, is a fertility specialist. Her mother, Shelley Hershlag,
Portman's parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University, where her mother was selling tickets. They corresponded after her father returned to Israel, and were married when her mother visited a few years later. In 1984, when Portman was three years old, the family moved to the United States, where her father received his medical training. The family first lived in Washington, D.C., where Portman attended Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, but relocated to Connecticut in 1988, and then settled on Long Island, New York, in 1990. She attended Syosset High School in Syosset, Long Island. Portman has said that although she "really love[s] the States... my heart's in Jerusalem. That's where I feel at home." She is an only child and very close to her parents, Portman learned to speak Hebrew in addition to English and attended a Jewish elementary school, the Solomon Schechter Day School of Glen Cove, New York. She graduated from the public Syosset High School in 1999.
On June 5, 2003, Portman graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in psychology. "I don't care if [college] ruins my career," she told the New York Post, according to a Fox News article. "I'd rather be smart than a movie star." At Harvard, Portman was Alan Dershowitz's research assistant in a psychology lab. While attending Harvard, she was a resident of Lowell House and wrote a letter to the Harvard Crimson in response to an anti-Israeli essay.
Portman took graduate courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the spring of 2004.
Portman has professed an interest in foreign languages since childhood and has studied French, Japanese, and Arabic.
As a student, Portman co-authored two research papers that were published in professional scientific journals. Her 1998 high school paper, "A Simple Method To Demonstrate the Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen from Sugar," was entered in the Intel Science Talent Search, in which she was named a semifinalist. In 2002, she contributed to a study on memory called "Frontal Lobe Activation During Object Permanence" during her psychology studies at Harvard.
Due to her scientific publications, Portman is among a very small number of professional actors with a defined Erdős–Bacon number, a concept which reflects the "small world phenomenon" in academia and entertainment by measuring the "collaborative distance" between that person and Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős—and the number of links, through roles in films, by which the individual is separated from American actor Kevin Bacon.
Portman spent her school holidays attending theater camps. When she was 10, she auditioned for the off-Broadway show Ruthless!, a musical about a girl who is prepared to commit murder to get the lead in a school play. Portman and future pop star Britney Spears were chosen as the understudies for star Laura Bell Bundy. Léon opened on November 18, 1994, marking her feature film debut at age 13. That same year she appeared in the short film Developing, which aired on television.
In July 2001, Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Chekhov's The Seagull, directed by Mike Nichols; she played the role of Nina alongside Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. That same year, she was one of many celebrities who made cameo appearances in the 2001 comedy Zoolander. Portman was cast in a small role in the film Cold Mountain alongside Jude Law and Nicole Kidman.
The final Star Wars prequel, , was released on May 19, 2005. The film was the highest grossing domestic film of the year, and was voted Favorite Motion Picture at the People's Choice Awards. Also in 2005, Portman filmed Free Zone and director Miloš Forman's Goya's Ghosts. Forman had not seen any of her work but thought she looked like a Goya painting, so he requested a meeting.
V for Vendetta opened in early 2006. Portman portrayed Evey Hammond, a young woman who is saved from the secret police by the main character, V. Portman worked with a voice coach for the role, learning to speak with an English accent, and she famously had her head shaved.
Portman has commented on V for Vendetta's political relevance and mentioned that her character, who joins an underground anti-government group, is "often bad and does things that you don't like" and that "being from Israel was a reason I wanted to do this because terrorism and violence are such a daily part of my conversations since I was little." She said the film "doesn't make clear good or bad statements. It respects the audience enough to take away their own opinion".
Both Goya's Ghosts and Free Zone received limited releases in 2006. Portman starred in the children's film Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which began filming in April 2006 and was released in November 2007; she has said that she was "excited to do a kids' movie."
In 2006, she filmed Wong Kar-wai's road movie My Blueberry Nights. She won acclaim for her role as gambler Leslie, because "[f]or once she's not playing a waif or a child princess but a mature, full-bodied woman... but she's not coasting on her looks... She uses her appeal to simultaneously flirt with and taunt the gambler across the table." Portman voiced Bart Simpson's girlfriend Darcy in the episode "Little Big Girl" of The Simpsons' 18th season.
She appeared in Paul McCartney's music video "Dance Tonight" from his 2007 album Memory Almost Full, directed by Michel Gondry. Portman co-starred in the Wes Anderson short film Hotel Chevalier, opposite Jason Schwartzman, in which she performed her second nude scene (her first being Goya's Ghosts). In May 2008, Portman served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury,
In 2008, Portman at age 27 made her directorial debut at the Venice Film Festival. "Eve", a short movie about a young woman who is dragged along on her grandmother's romantic date, was screened out of competition. Portman said she had always had a fascination with the older generation, and drew inspiration for the character from her own grandmother.
Portman's next film is No Strings Attached, which will be released on January 21, 2011. She has also been cast in the role of Jane Foster in Kenneth Branagh's upcoming film adaptation of Thor. Portman dropped out of the lead role of Elizabeth Bennet in the 2010 novel adaptation Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but she continues as producer.
In 2007, Portman traveled to Rwanda with Jack Hanna, to film the documentary Gorillas on the Brink. Later, at a naming ceremony, Portman christened a baby gorilla Gukina, which means "to play." Portman has been an advocate of environmental causes since childhood, when she joined an environmental song and dance troupe known as World Patrol Kids. She is also a member of the One Voice movement.
Portman has also supported antipoverty activities. In 2004 and 2005, she traveled to Uganda, Guatemala, and Ecuador as the Ambassador of Hope for FINCA International, an organization that promotes micro-lending to help finance women-owned businesses in developing countries. In an interview conducted backstage at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia and appearing on the PBS program Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria, she discussed microfinance. Host Fareed Zakaria said that he was "generally wary of celebrities with fashionable causes," but included the segment with Portman because "she really knew her stuff."
In the "Voices" segment of the April 29, 2007, episode of the ABC Sunday morning program This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Portman discussed her work with FINCA and how it can benefit women and children in Third World countries. In fall 2007, she visited several university campuses, including Harvard, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, New York University, and Columbia, to inspire students with the power of microfinance and to encourage them to join the Village Banking Campaign to help families and communities lift themselves out of poverty.
In 2010, Portman's activist work and popularity with young people earned her a nomination for VH1's Do Something Awards, which is dedicated to honoring individuals who do good.
Portman is a supporter of the Democratic Party, and in the 2004 presidential race she campaigned for the Democratic nominee, Senator John Kerry. In the 2008 presidential election, Portman supported Senator Hillary Clinton of New York in the Democratic primaries. She later campaigned for the eventual Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, during the general election. However, in a 2008 interview, she also said: "I even like John McCain. I disagree with his war stance — which is a really big deal — but I think he's a very moral person."
On the concept of the afterlife, Portman has said, "I don't believe in that. I believe this is it, and I believe it's the best way to live."
Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from Connecticut Category:Actors from New York Category:Actors from Washington, D.C. Category:American child actors Category:American film actors Category:American Jews Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Israeli descent Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent Category:American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American vegans Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Israeli film actors Category:Israeli immigrants to the United States Category:Israeli Jews Category:Israeli people of Austrian origin Category:Israeli people of Polish origin Category:Israeli people of Romanian origin Category:Israeli people of Russian origin Category:Israeli vegetarians Category:Jewish actors Category:People from Connecticut Category:People from Jerusalem Category:People from Long Island Category:People from Nassau County, New York Category:People from New York City Category:People from Washington, D.C. Category:Saturn Award winners
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| Name | Patty Duke |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Anna Marie Duke |
| Birth date | December 14, 1946 |
| Birth place | Elmhurst, Queens, New York, United States |
| Other names | Patty Duke AstinAnna Duke-Pearce |
| Occupation | Actress, author, mental health advocate |
| Years active | 1956–present |
| Spouse | |
| Website | http://www.officialpattyduke.com/ |
Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (born December 14, 1946) is an American actress of stage, film, and television. First becoming famous as a child star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16, and later starring in her eponymous sitcom for three years, she progressed to more mature roles upon playing Neely O'Hara in the 1967 film Valley of the Dolls. She was later elected president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1985 to 1988.
Duke was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982, and since then has devoted much of her time to advocating and educating the public on mental health issues.
Duke's first major starring role was playing Helen Keller (with Anne Bancroft as Annie Sullivan) in the Broadway play The Miracle Worker, which ran for nearly two years (October, 1959 – July, 1961). Midway through the production-run, her name was placed above the title on the marquee. The play was subsequently made into a 1962 film, for which Duke received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. At 16, Duke was the youngest person at that time to receive an Academy Award in a competitive category. Duke would later star in a 1979 remake of The Miracle Worker, this time playing Annie Sullivan, with Melissa Gilbert in the Helen Keller role.
In 1961, Duke returned to television in her teenage years, starring with Laurence Olivier and George C. Scott in a TV production of The Power and the Glory.
Two years later, in 1963, Duke was given her own series entitled The Patty Duke Show, in which she played both main characters: Patty Lane, an American teenager occasionally getting into minor trouble in school and at home, and her 'prim and proper' "identical cousin" from Scotland, Cathy Lane. The show featured co-stars William Schallert as Patty Lane's father, Jean Byron as her mother, Paul O'Keefe as her brother and Eddie Applegate as her boyfriend, Richard, as well as featuring such high-profile guest stars as Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Paul Lynde, and Sal Mineo. The series lasted for three seasons and earned Duke an Emmy Award nomination.
Despite the success of her career, Duke was deeply unhappy during her teenage years. Efforts were taken by the Rosses to portray her as a normal teenager, but Duke later indicated in her memoirs that she was a virtual prisoner of them and had little control over her own life and earnings. The Rosses kept control over Duke and her mother by allowing them only a small amount of money to survive on. The Rosses also began providing Duke with alcohol and prescription drugs when she was 13, which, along with her undiagnosed bipolar disorder, contributed to substance abuse problems she experienced throughout her young adult life. As an adult, Duke accused both John and Ethel Ross of sexual abuse. Upon turning 18, Duke legally became free of the Rosses, only to find that they had squandered most of her earnings.
In 1967, with The Patty Duke Show cancelled, Duke attempted to leave her childhood success behind and begin her adult acting career by playing Neely O'Hara in Valley of the Dolls. The film was a box office success, but audiences and critics had a difficult time accepting all-American-teenager Duke as an alcoholic, drug-addicted singing star. While the film has since become a camp classic—thanks in large part to Duke's over-the-top performance
On March 24, 2009, she replaced Carol Kane as Madame Morrible in the San Francisco production of the musical Wicked. She left the production on February 7, 2010.
On July 20, 2009, Duke was given a tribute in her honor at The Castro Theatre in San Francisco entitled "Sparkle, Patty, Sparkle!" During the evening, Duke met and posed for pictures with over one thousand fans and was interviewed on stage by comic Bruce Vilanch. In addition to showing clips from her long career, Duke's 1967 film Valley of the Dolls was screened at the end of the evening. The event sold out the 1400 seat theater.
In 2010, Duke recorded a series of PSAs for the Social Security Administration to help promote applying online for Medicare.
On August 17, 2004, Duke received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to the motion picture industry.
In December 2007, Duke was awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of North Florida for her work in advancing awareness of mental health issues.
On March 6, 2010, Duke was awarded the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
In early 1970, at the age of 23, Duke had an affair with 17-year old Desi Arnaz, Jr..
Duke and John Astin were married in August 1972. Astin adopted Sean, and the couple had another son, actor Mackenzie, in 1973. Duke and Astin worked together extensively during their marriage, and she took his name professionally, becoming "Patty Duke Astin". The couple divorced in 1985.
Duke married her fourth husband, drill sergeant Michael Pearce, in 1986. The couple moved to Idaho, and adopted a son, Kevin, who was born in 1988. Since her marriage to Pearce, Duke occasionally uses the name "Anna Duke-Pearce" in her writings and other professional work.
Duke has three granddaughters by her son Sean: Actress Alexandra Astin (who played Elanor Gamgee in , opposite her father, who played Samwise Gamgee), Elizabeth Astin, and Isabella Astin.
{| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Television |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1963–1966 | | Patty Lane/Cathy Lane | 104 episodesNominated–Emmy Award; Nominated–Golden Globe |- | 1967 | | Sue Ann MacRae | "Sue Ann" Season 5, Episode 16 |- | 1970 | My Sweet Charlie | Marlene Chambers | TV movieLimited theatrical release after television premierePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie |- | 1971 | If Tomorrow Comes | Eileen Phillips | TV movie |- | 1971 | She Waits | Laura Wilson | TV movie |- | 1972 | Deadly Harvest | Jenny | TV movie |- | 1974 | ''Nightmare | Jan | TV movie |- | 1976 | Captains and the Kings | Bernadette Hennessey Armagh | MiniseriesPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie |- | 1978 | | Wendy | TV movieNominated–Primetime Emmy Award Nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special |- | 1978 | Having Babies III | Leslee Wexler | Primetime series, 3rd installmentNominated–Primetime Emmy Award Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series |- | 1979 | Before and After | Carole Matthews | TV movie |- | 1979 | | Annie Sullivan | TV moviePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie |- | 1980 | | Liz Benedict | TV movie |- | 1980 | | Lily | TV movieNominated–Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special |- | 1981 | | Martha | TV movieNominated–Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement – Children's Programming |- | 1981 | | Sarah McDavid | TV movie |- | 1981 | Please Don't Hit Me, Mom | Barbara Reynolds | TV movie (appearing with her son, Sean Astin) |- | 1982 | It Takes Two | Molly Quinn | TV series |- | 1983 | September Gun | Sister Dolcina | TV movie |- | 1984 | Insight | Unnamed | Series episode: The Hit ManNominated–Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Religious Programming – Performers |- | 1984 | George Washington | Martha Washington | MiniseriesNominated–Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special |- | 1985 | Hail To The Chief | President Julia Mansfield | TV series |- | 1986 | | Concetta Hassan | TV movie |- | 1987 | Fight for Life | Shirley Abrams | TV movie |- | 1987 | Karen's Song | Karen Matthews | TV series |- | 1988 | Fatal Judgement | Anne Capute | TV movie |- | 1990 | Always Remember I Love You | Ruth Monroe | TV movie |- | 1990 | Call Me Anna | Herself | TV docudrama |- | 1991 | | Jean Monroe | TV movie |- | 1992 | Last Wish | Betty Rollin | TV movie |- | 1993 | | Mary Brown | TV movie |- | 1994 | Cries from the Heart | Terry | TV movie |- | 1996 | Harvest of Fire | Annie Beiler | TV movie |- | 1996 | Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah | Natalie | TV movie |- | 1997 | | Sook Faulk | TV movie |- | 1998 | | Patty Lane/Cathy Lane MacAllister | TV movie |- | 1998 | | Faye Dolan | TV movie |- | 1998–2003 | Touched by an Angel | Jean | 3 episodesNominated–Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (1999) |- | 1999 | | Angel | TV movie |- | 2004 | Judging Amy | Valerie Bing | 1 episode |- | 2006 | Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door | Bridget Connelly | TV movie |- | 2009 | Love Finds a Home | Mary Watson | TV movie |}
; Albums
; Singles
Category:Actors from New York Category:Actors who attempted suicide Category:American child actors Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American labor leaders Category:Presidents of the Screen Actors Guild Category:American memoirists Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of German descent Category:American actors of German descent Category:American pop singers Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:English-language singers Category:People from New York City Category:People from Queens Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:People with bipolar disorder Category:1946 births Category:Living people
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| Name | Al Pacino |
|---|---|
| Caption | Al Pacino attending the Venice Film Festival in September 2004 |
| Birth name | Alfredo James Pacino |
| Birth date | April 25, 1940 |
| Birth place | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Death date | |
| Occupation | Actor, director, screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1968–present |
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is an American film and stage actor and director. He is most famed for playing mobsters including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy and Tony Montana in Scarface, though he has also appeared several times on the other side of the law—as a police officer, detective and a lawyer. His role as Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman won him the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1992 after receiving seven previous Oscar nominations.
He made his feature film debut in the 1969 film Me, Natalie in a minor supporting role, before playing the leading role in the 1971 drama The Panic in Needle Park. Pacino made his major breakthrough when he was given the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather in 1972, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Other Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor were for Dick Tracy and Glengarry Glen Ross. Oscar nominations for Best Actor include The Godfather Part II, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, the court room drama ...And Justice for All and Scent of a Woman.
In addition to a career in film, he has also enjoyed a successful career on stage, picking up Tony Awards for Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? and The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel. His love of Shakespeare caused him to direct his first film with Looking for Richard, a part documentary on the play Richard III. Pacino has received numerous lifetime achievement awards, including one from the American Film Institute. He is a method actor, taught mainly by Lee Strasberg and Charlie Laughton at the Actors Studio in New York.
Although he has never married, Pacino has had several relationships with actresses and has three children.
Pacino is currently co-president, along with Ellen Burstyn and Harvey Keitel, of the Actors Studio.
Pacino made his return to the stage in 2010 as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. The production continued in October 2010 at the Broadhurst Theatre New York, earning US$1 million at the box office in its first week.
In 1992 Pacino won the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his portrayal of retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade in Martin Brest's Scent of a Woman. Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun Times wrote, ‘The satanic character is played by Pacino with relish bordering on glee.’ In Donnie Brasco Pacino played mafia gangster "Lefty", in the true story of undercover FBI agent Donnie Brasco (Johnny Depp) and his work in bringing down the mafia from the inside. Pacino also starred as real life 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman in the multi-Oscar nominated The Insider opposite Russell Crowe, before starring in Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday in 1999.
Pacino has not received another nomination from the Academy since Scent of a Woman, but won two Golden Globes since the year 2000, the first being the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2001 for lifetime achievement in motion pictures.
Pacino's film festival-screened Chinese Coffee earned good notices. Shot almost exclusively as a one-on-one conversation between the two main characters, it was filmed in 1997 but not released until 2000. Chinese Coffee was included along with Pacino's two other rare films he has been involved in producing, The Local Stigmatic and Looking for Richard, on a special DVD boxset titled Pacino: An Actor's Vision which was released in 2007. Pacino produced prologues and epilogues for the discs containing the films.
Pacino turned down an offer to reprise his role as Michael Corleone in the computer game version of . As a result, Electronic Arts was not permitted to use Pacino's likeness or voice in the game, although his character does appear in it. He did allow his likeness to appear in the game adaptation of the remake of 1983's Scarface, titled .
Director Christopher Nolan worked with Pacino for Insomnia, a remake of the Norwegian film of the same name, co-starring Robin Williams. In this film, Pacino delivered a performance of a burned-out character, like in Donnie Brasco. Newsweek stated that "he [Pacino] can play small as rivetingly as he can play big, that he can implode as well as explode". The film did moderately well at the box office, taking US$113 million dollars worldwide. His next film, S1m0ne, was one that Pacino liked, but which did not gain much critical praise or box office success.
In Two for the Money, Pacino works as a sports gambling agent and mentor for Matthew McConaughey, alongside Renee Russo. The film was released on October 8, 2005 and received mixed reviews. Desson Thomson wrote in The Washington Post, "Al Pacino has played the mentor so many times, he ought to get a kingmaker's award (...) the fight between good and evil feels fixed in favor of Hollywood redemption." Pacino starred as Shylock in Michael Radford's 2004 film adaptation of The Merchant of Venice, choosing to add empathy to a character that had usually been played as a straight villain. On November 22, 2006, the University Philosophical Society of Trinity College, Dublin awarded Pacino the Honorary Patronage of the Society.
Pacino starred in Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean's Thirteen alongside George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould and Andy García as the villain Willy Bank, a casino tycoon targeted out of revenge by Danny Ocean and his crew. The film received generally favorable reviews.
88 Minutes was released on April 18, 2008 in the United States, having already been released in various other countries in 2007. The film co-starred Alicia Witt and was critically panned, although critics found the fault to be in the plot instead of Pacino's acting. In Righteous Kill, Pacino and Robert De Niro co-star as New York detectives searching for a serial killer; rapper 50 Cent also stars in it. The film was released to theaters on September 12, 2008. Although it was an anticipated return for the two stars, it was not well received by critics. Lou Luminick of The New York Post gave Righteous Kill one star out of four, saying: "Al Pacino and Robert De Niro collect bloated paychecks with intent to bore in Righteous Kill, a slow-moving, ridiculous police thriller that would have been shipped straight to the remainder bin at Blockbuster if it starred anyone else."
Pacino played Dr. Jack Kevorkian in an HBO Films biopic entitled You Don't Know Jack, which premiered April 2010. The film is about the life and work of the doctor-assisted suicide advocate. The performance earned Pacino his second Emmy Award for lead actor.
Category:1940 births Category:Actors Studio alumni Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:American people of Italian descent Category:Best Actor BAFTA Award winners Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actor Golden Globe winners Category:Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners Category:Drama Desk Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts alumni Category:Actors from New York Category:People from New York City Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:Tony Award winners Category:Living people Category:American actors of Italian descent
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| Name | Natalie Tran |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Natalie Tyler Tran |
| Birth date | July 23, 1986 |
| Birth place | Sydney, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Years active | 2006-present |
| Known for | Sketch comedy, vlogging |
| Website | CommunityChannel |
| Web alias | communitychannel, natalietran |
| Web host service | YouTube, Myspace, Facebook, Twitter |
| Phrase | Hi, your mum rates me! |
Tran has more than 852,148 subscribers and more than 330 million views. This popularity has led to media coverage and appearances in The Sydney Morning Herald, B&T; Magazine, Venus Zine. Der Spiegel, Báo Viêt Luận Online, Việt Tribune, VnExpress, Triple J, and the Hot30 Countdown. Her defence of Vegemite in response to a YouTube video by Ben Going was featured on the Australian television programme A Current Affair on February 2007, as part of the Vegemite wars segment. Tran's most viewed video had over 20 million views in March, 2010 and the number of views has grown significantly since then.
Tran has been recognized for her creative work and popularity on the Internet in various ways. Tran was one of the Australian YouTube celebrities invited to talk about the site at the launch of YouTube Australia in 2007. She is presently enlisted by The Sydney Morning Herald as a contributor and Real World Correspondent to their technology vlog Digital Life, complementing main presenter and journalist Séamus Byrne. Although her original skits are specifically written and created for Digital Life, they are produced almost entirely in the same manner and style as her YouTube material. Tran was a presenter at "Creative Sydney" in May, 2009 at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Tran was nominated for "Best YouTube Channel or Personality" and "Funniest YouTube Channel" by Mashable in their 2009 Open Web Awards. Tran was one of the presenters at the 2010 Entertainment Gathering (EG) convention in Monterey, California. In 2010, Tran was a presenter at ideaCity in Toronto, Canada. In 2010, the analytics firm TubeMogul placed Tran at #10 on their list of top ten earners from YouTube advertising. According to TubeMogul, Tran earned $101,000 and had 138,871,829 views. Tran was included on the TC Candler "Most Beautiful Faces 2010" list.
Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:Australian people of Vietnamese descent Category:People from Sydney Category:University of New South Wales alumni Category:Video bloggers Category:YouTube video producers
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| Name | Natalie Merchant |
|---|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Natalie Anne Merchant |
| Born | October 26, 1963Jamestown, New York, USA |
| Instrument | Vocals, keyboard, piano |
| Voice type | Contralto |
| Occupation | Musician, Songwriter |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Label | Elektra RecordsMyth America RecordsNonesuch Records |
| Associated acts | 10,000 Maniacs |
| Url | NatalieMerchant.com |
Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She joined the alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and left it to begin her solo career in 1993.
Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:10,000 Maniacs members Category:American contraltos Category:American female singers Category:American pop pianists Category:American pop singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Female rock singers Category:Feminist artists Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:People from Jamestown, New York Category:American vegetarians Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:American vibraphonists Category:Musicians from New York
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Name | Natalie Cole |
|---|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Natalie Maria Cole |
| Born | February 06, 1950Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Instrument | Voice, Piano |
| Genre | R&B;, soul, pop, soft rock, jazz, quiet storm, adult contemporary |
| Occupation | Singer, songwriter, pianist, actress |
| Years active | 1955–present |
| Label | Capitol (1975–1981)Epic (1982–1984)Modern (1984–1986)Capitol-EMI-Manhattan (1986–1990)Elektra (1991–2001)Verve (2001–2007)DMI / Rhino (2008–2010) |
| Associated acts | Nat King Cole |
| Url | www.nataliecole.com |
Natalie Maria Cole (born February 6, 1950), better known as Natalie Cole is an American singer, songwriter and performer. The daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole, Cole rode to musical success in the mid-1970s as an R&B; artist with the hits "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)", "Inseparable" and "Our Love". After a period of failing sales and performances due to a heavy drug addiction, Cole reemerged as a pop artist with the 1987 album, Everlasting, and her cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac". In the 1990s, she re-recorded standards by her father, resulting in her biggest success, Unforgettable... with Love, which sold over seven million copies and also won Cole numerous Grammy Awards.
Cole grew up with older adopted sister Carole "Cookie" (1944–2008) (her mother Maria's younger sister's daughter); adopted brother Nat "Kelly" Cole (1959–1995), and younger twin sisters Timolin and Casey (born 1961).
Her paternal uncle Freddy Cole is a singer and pianist with numerous albums and awards. Cole was 15 years old and attending an east coast boarding school, the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Northfield, Massachusetts, when her father died of lung cancer in February 1965. Soon afterwards she began having a difficult relationship with her mother. She enrolled in the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She briefly transferred to University of Southern California where she pledged the Epsilion Theta chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.. She later transferred back to the University of Massachusetts, where she majored in Child Psychology and minored in German graduating in 1972.
In 1994 she released her first holiday recording, Holly and Ivy, which was certified gold in 1996. Additional holiday recordings include A Celebration of Christmas (1996), recorded live in Vienna with Jose Carreras and Plácido Domingo; and Magic of Christmas (1999).
In 1995, she performed in a musical performance of the popular story at Lincoln Center to benefit the Children's Defense Fund. The performance was originally broadcast on Turner Network Television (TNT), and issued on CD and video in 1996.
Her 1999 album Snowfall on the Sahara marked a return to the easy adult-contemporary soul that categorized her late-1980s style and included the hit "Say You Love Me". In 2002 the critically-acclaimed number one jazz cd Ask a Woman Who Knows coverered songs made famous by Dinah Washington, Nina Simone, and Sarah Vaughan. For this recording she received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Artist.
In September 2006, she released Leavin', a cover album of tracks made popular by Shelby Lynne, Kate Bush, Sting, and Fiona Apple, and the hit remake of Aretha Franklin's "Daydreaming", for which she received a Grammy nomination.
Cole's latest album, Still Unforgettable was released September 9, 2008 including yet another virtual duet with her late father, a cover of his 1951 hit "Walkin' My Baby Back Home". Still Unforgettable won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 51st Grammy Awards.
In 1992, following the success of the Unforgettable: With Love album, PBS broadcast a special based on the album. Unforgettable, With Love: Natalie Cole Sings the Songs of Nat "King" Cole received emmy nominations for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program; and Cole received a nomination for Outstanding Individual Performance, losing to Bette Midler.
Cole has made a number of dramatic appearances on television, including guest appearances on I'll Fly Away, Touched by an Angel, and . In 2006, she made a memorable guest appearance on the popular ABC show Grey's Anatomy as a terminally ill patient. Her character visited Seattle Grace Hospital to have a fork removed from her neck that her husband had stabbed her with during a mishap; the couple had been having sex in public.
Cole has also made several appearances in feature films, most recently in the Cole Porter biopic De-Lovely. She has appeared in several made-for-TV movies, most notably as the lead in Lily in Winter. Cole was featured on Macy Gray's album Big, singing "Finally Make Me Happy".
In 2001 she starred as herself in Livin' for Love: the Natalie Cole Story, for which she received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television, Mini-Series of Dramatic Special.
She also sang the national anthem with the Atlanta University Center Chorus at Super Bowl XXVIII.
On December 2, 2006, Cole performed for the first time in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, as part of the annual Cayman Jazz Fest.
On the February 5, 2007 episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Cole sang "I Say a Little Prayer" at a benefit dinner for Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson).
She can also be seen in the last scene of Nas' music video for "Can't Forget About You". The song uses a sample of her father's song "Unforgettable". Cole is sitting at a piano in a cabaret-style lounge mouthing her father's song with Nas standing beside her.
Natalie Cole also performed "Something's Gotta Give" on American Idol on April 29, 2009.
In September 2010, Cole performed with Andrea Bocelli in a concert at the Kodak Theatre, for his album My Christmas, in which she recorded a duet with him, and on December 10–13, 2009, she appeared with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square in their annual Christmas concerts. Both were videotaped for presentation on PBS in December 2010.
Cole has been active in the Afghan World Foundation cause, supporting Sonia Nassery Cole.
In concert with the release of the book, her autobiography was turned into a made-for-TV movie, The Natalie Cole Story, which aired December 10, 2000 on NBC.
Cole has also had struggles with kidney disease. Before receiving a kidney transplant on May 20, 2009, Cole had been receiving kidney dialysis three times a week. During her March 31, 2009 appearance on Larry King Live "dozens of emails flooded the CNN studio" with offers for replacement kidneys.
As of June 2009, Cole had received a kidney transplant. The news of the organ came on the same day her sister Carole died from cancer. Natalie attended the memorial services and continues to heal and grow stronger with her new kidney.
She made a triumphant stage comeback on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at the legendary Hollywood Bowl in LA. In December 2009 she achieved a life long dream of performing at the Christmas Extravaganza with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:African American actors Category:African American female singers Category:African American memoirists Category:African American singer-songwriters Category:American Christians Category:American jazz singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American soul singers Category:American pop singers Category:Elektra Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Musicians from California Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Category:Women in jazz
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Name | David Letterman |
|---|---|
| Caption | Speaking at the opening of the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute (September 2009) |
| Pseudonym | Earl Hofert |
| Birth name | David Michael Letterman |
| Birth date | April 12, 1947 |
| Birth place | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Notable work | Host of Late Night with David Letterman (NBC)Host of Late Show with David Letterman (CBS) |
| Signature | David Letterman Autograph.svg |
Letterman lived on the north side of Indianapolis (Broad Ripple area), not far from Speedway, IN, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he enjoyed collecting model cars, including racers. In 2000, he told an interviewer for Esquire that, while growing up, he admired his father's ability to tell jokes and be the life of the party. Harry Joseph Letterman survived a heart attack at age 36, when David was a young boy. The fear of losing his father was constantly with Letterman as he grew up. The elder Letterman died of a second heart attack at age 57.
Letterman attended his hometown's Broad Ripple High School at the same time as Marilyn Tucker Quayle (wife of the former Vice President) who lived nearby, and worked as a stock boy at the local Atlas supermarket. According to the Ball State Daily News, he originally had wanted to attend Indiana University, but his grades weren't good enough, so he decided to attend Ball State University, in Muncie, Indiana. He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and he graduated from what was then the Department of Radio and Television, in 1969. A self-described average student, Letterman endowed a scholarship for what he called "C students" at Ball State.
Though he registered for the draft and passed his physical after graduating from College, he avoided military service in Vietnam due to receiving a draft lottery number of 352 (out of 365).
Letterman began his broadcasting career as an announcer and newscaster at the college's student-run radio station—WBST—a 10-watt campus station which now is part of Indiana public radio. He was fired for treating classical music with irreverence.
Letterman credits Paul Dixon—host of the Paul Dixon Show, a Cincinnati-based talk show also shown in Indianapolis while Letterman was growing up—for inspiring his choice of career: :"I was just out of college [in 1969], and I really didn't know what I wanted to do. And then all the sudden I saw him doing it [on TV]. And I thought: That's really what I want to do!"
In 1971, Letterman appeared as a pit road reporter for ABC Sports' tape-delayed coverage of the Indianapolis 500.
Letterman appeared in the summer of 1977 on the short-lived Starland Vocal Band Show. He has since joked about how fortunate he was that nobody would ever see his performance on the program (due to its low ratings).
Letterman had a stint as a cast member on Mary Tyler Moore's variety show, Mary; a guest appearance on Mork & Mindy (as a parody of EST leader Werner Erhard); and appearances on game shows such as The $20,000 Pyramid, The Gong Show, Password Plus and Liar's Club. He also hosted a 1977 pilot for a game show entitled The Riddlers that was never picked up. His dry, sarcastic humor caught the attention of scouts for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Letterman was soon a regular guest on the show. Letterman became a favorite of Carson's and was a regular guest host for the show beginning in 1978. Letterman personally credits Carson as the person who influenced his career the most.
Letterman's shows have garnered both critical and industry praise, receiving 67 Emmy Award nominations, winning twelve times in his first 20 years in late night television. From 1993–2009, Letterman ranked higher than Leno in the annual Harris Poll of Nation's Favorite TV Personality twelve times. Leno was higher than Letterman on that poll three times during the same period, in 1998, 2007, and 2008.
Letterman recycled the apparent debacle into a long-running gag. On his first show after the Oscars, he joked, "Looking back, I had no idea that thing was being televised." He lampooned his stint in the following year, during Billy Crystal's opening Oscar skit, which also parodied the plane-crashing scenes from that year's chief nominated film, The English Patient.
For years afterward, Letterman recounted his horrible hosting at the Oscars, although the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences still holds Letterman in high regard and it has been rumored they have asked him to host the Oscars again. On September 7, 2010, he made an appearance on the premier of the 14th season of The View, and confirmed the rumors.
During the initial weeks of his recovery, reruns of the Late Show were shown and introduced by friends of Letterman including Drew Barrymore, including Dr. O. Wayne Isom and physician Louis Aronne, who frequently appears on the show. In a show of emotion, Letterman was nearly in tears as he thanked the health care team with the words "These are the people who saved my life!" The episode earned an Emmy nomination. For a number of episodes, Letterman continued to crack jokes about his bypass, including saying, "Bypass surgery: it's when doctors surgically create new blood flow to your heart. A bypass is what happened to me when I didn't get The Tonight Show! It's a whole different thing." In a later running gag he lobbied his home state of Indiana to rename the freeway circling Indianapolis (I-465) "The David Letterman Bypass." He also featured a montage of faux news coverage of his bypass surgery, which included a clip of Dave's heart for sale on the Home Shopping Network. Letterman became friends with his doctors and nurses. In 2008, a Rolling Stone interview stated "he hosted a doctor and nurse who'd helped perform the emergency quintuple-bypass heart surgery that saved his life in 2000. 'These are people who were complete strangers when they opened my chest,' he says. 'And now, eight years later, they're among my best friends.' "
Additionally, Letterman invited the band Foo Fighters to play "Everlong", introducing them as "my favorite band, playing my favorite song." During a later Foo Fighters appearance, Letterman said that Foo Fighters had been in the middle of a South American tour which they canceled to come play on his comeback episode.
Letterman again handed over the reins of the show to several guest hosts (including Bill Cosby, Brad Garrett, Elvis Costello, John McEnroe, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell, Bonnie Hunt, Luke Wilson and bandleader Paul Shaffer) in February 2003, when he was diagnosed with a severe case of shingles. Later that year, Letterman made regular use of guest hosts—including Tom Arnold and Kelsey Grammer—for new shows broadcast on Fridays. In March 2007, Adam Sandler—who had been scheduled to be the lead guest—served as a guest host while Letterman was ill with a stomach virus.
On December 4, 2006, CBS revealed that David Letterman signed a new contract to host The Late Show with David Letterman through the fall of 2010. "I'm thrilled to be continuing on at CBS," said Letterman. "At my age you really don't want to have to learn a new commute." Letterman further joked about the subject by pulling up his right pants leg, revealing a tattoo, presumably temporary, of the ABC logo.
"Thirteen years ago, David Letterman put CBS late night on the map and in the process became one of the defining icons of our network," said Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corporation. "His presence on our air is an ongoing source of pride, and the creativity and imagination that the Late Show puts forth every night is an ongoing display of the highest quality entertainment. We are truly honored that one of the most revered and talented entertainers of our time will continue to call CBS 'home.'"
According to a 2007 article in Forbes magazine, Letterman earned $40 million a year. A 2009 article in The New York Times, however, said his salary was estimated at $32 million per year.
In June 2009, Letterman and CBS reached agreement to extend his contract to host The Late Show until August 2012. His previous contract had been set to expire in 2010. thus allowing his show to come back on air on January 2, 2008. On his first episode since being off air, he surprised the viewing audience with his newly grown beard, which signified solidarity with the strike. His beard was shaved off during the show on January 7, 2008.
Carson later made a few cameo appearances as a guest on Letterman's show. Carson's final television appearance came May 13, 1994 on a Late Show episode taped in Los Angeles, when he made a surprise appearance during a 'Top 10 list' segment. The audience went wild as Letterman stood up and proudly invited Carson to sit at his desk. The applause was so protracted that Carson was unable to say anything, and he finally returned backstage as the applause continued (it was later explained that Carson had laryngitis, though Carson can be heard talking to Letterman during his appearance).
In early 2005, it was revealed that Carson still kept up with current events and late-night TV right up to his death that year, and that he occasionally sent jokes to Letterman, who used these jokes in his monologue; according to CBS senior vice president Peter Lassally (a onetime producer for both men), Carson got "a big kick out of it." Letterman would do a characteristic Johnny Carson golf swing after delivering one of Carson's jokes. In a tribute to Carson, all of the opening monologue jokes during the first show following Carson's death were written by Carson.
Lassally also claimed that Carson had always believed Letterman, not Leno, to be his "rightful successor." Letterman also frequently employs some of Carson's trademark bits on his show, including "Carnac the Magnificent" (with Paul Shaffer as Carnac), "Stump the Band" and the "Week in Review."
Winfrey and Letterman also appeared together in a Late Show promo that aired during CBS's coverage of Super Bowl XLI in February 2007, with the two sitting next to each other on the couch watching the game. Since the game was played between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears, the Indianapolis-born Letterman wears a Peyton Manning jersey, while Winfrey—who tapes her show in Chicago—is in a Brian Urlacher jersey. Three years later, during CBS's coverage of Super Bowl XLIV, the two appeared again, this time with Winfrey sitting on a couch between Letterman and Jay Leno. The appearance was Letterman's idea: Leno flew to New York City in an NBC corporate jet, sneaking into the Ed Sullivan Theater during the Late Show's February 4 taping wearing a disguise, meeting Winfrey and Letterman at a living room set created in the theater's balcony where they taped their promo.
In 2005, Worldwide Pants produced its first feature film, Strangers with Candy, which was a prequel to the Comedy Central TV series of the same title. In 2007, Worldwide Pants produced the ABC comedy series, Knights of Prosperity.
Worldwide Pants made significant news in December 2007 when it was announced that Letterman's company had independently negotiated its own contract with the Writers Guild of America, East, thus allowing Letterman, Craig Ferguson, and their writers to return to work, while the union continued its strike against production companies, networks and studios who had not reached an agreement.
Letterman received the honor for his dedication to the university throughout his career as a comedian. Letterman finished with, "If reasonable people can put my name on a $21 million building, anything is possible."
Letterman also received a Sagamore of the Wabash from Governor Mitch Daniels.
Letterman provided vocals for the Warren Zevon song "Hit Somebody" from My Ride's Here, and provided the voice for Butt-head's father in the 1996 animated film, Beavis and Butt-head Do America. He also had a cameo in the feature film Cabin Boy, with Chris Elliott, who worked as a writer on Letterman's show. In this and other appearances, Letterman is listed in the credits as "Earl Hofert", the name of Letterman's maternal grandfather. He also appeared as himself in the Howard Stern biopic Private Parts as well as the 1999 Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon, in a few episodes of Garry Shandling's 1990s TV series The Larry Sanders Show and in "The Abstinence", a 1996 episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. Letterman also appeared in the pilot episode of the short-lived 1986 series "Coach Toast".
Letterman has a son, Harry Joseph Letterman (born in 2003), with Regina Lasko. Harry is named after Letterman's father. In 2005, police discovered a plot to kidnap Harry Letterman and ransom him for $5 million. Kelly Frank, a house painter who had worked for Letterman, was charged in the conspiracy.
Letterman and Lasko, who had been together since 1986, wed during a quiet courthouse civil ceremony in Choteau, Montana, on March 19, 2009. Letterman announced the marriage during the taping of his March 23 show, shortly after congratulating Bruce Willis for getting married the previous week. Letterman told the audience he nearly missed the ceremony because his truck became stuck in mud two miles from their house. The family resides in North Salem, New York, on a estate.
Letterman stated that three weeks earlier (on September 9, 2009) someone had left a package in his car with material he said he would write into a screenplay and a book if Letterman did not pay him $2 million. Letterman said that he contacted the Manhattan District Attorney's office, ultimately cooperating with them to conduct a sting operation involving giving the man a phony check. The extortionist, Robert J. "Joe" Halderman, a producer of the CBS true crime journalism series 48 Hours, was subsequently arrested after trying to deposit the check. He was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury and pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted grand larceny on October 2, 2009. Birkitt had until recently lived with Halderman, who is alleged to have copied Birkitt's personal diary and to have used it, along with private emails, in the blackmail package.
On October 3, 2009, a former CBS employee, Holly Hester, announced that she and Letterman had engaged in a year-long "secret" affair in the early 1990s while she was his intern and a student at New York University.
In the days following the initial announcement of the affairs and the arrest, several prominent women, including Kathie Lee Gifford, co-host of NBC's Today Show, and NBC news anchor Ann Curry questioned whether Letterman's affairs with subordinates created an unfair working environment. A spokesman for Worldwide Pants said that the company's sexual harassment policy did not prohibit sexual relationships between managers and employees. According to business news reporter Eve Tahmincioglu, "CBS suppliers are supposed to follow the company's business conduct policies" and the CBS 2008 Business Conduct Statement states that "If a consenting romantic or sexual relationship between a supervisor and a direct or indirect subordinate should develop, CBS requires the supervisor to disclose this information to his or her Company's Human Resources Department..."
On October 5, 2009, Letterman devoted a segment of his show to a public apology to his wife and staff. Three days later, Worldwide Pants announced that Birkitt had been placed on a "paid leave of absence" from the Late Show. On October 15, CBS News announced that the company's Chief Investigative Correspondent, Armen Keteyian, had been assigned to conduct an "in-depth investigation" into Halderman's blackmail of Letterman.
On March 9, 2010, Halderman pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny and served a 6-month jail sentence, followed by probation and community service.
Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:American people of German descent Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Ball State University alumni Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Indianapolis, Indiana television anchors Category:Indy Racing League owners Category:People from Indianapolis, Indiana Category:Weather presenters
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| Name | Crystal Aikin |
|---|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Crystal Aikin |
| Born | Tacoma, Washington, U.S. |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Genre | CCM, gospel |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Label | Verity Gospel Music Group |
| Associated acts | Soul, Heaven Sent Us |
| Url |
Crystal Aikin is an American gospel singer-songwriter from Tacoma, Washington, and the winner of the first season of Sunday Best. Her eponymous debut album was released on January 13, 2009, through Verity Records.
While a teenager, Aikin was part of a local group called Heaven Sent Us. In the late 90s, Aikin joined a local singing group called Soul. This group gave her more exposure outside of the Tacoma area, even performing at the Gospel Music Workshop of America.
After leaving Soul, Aikin continued singing in the Tacoma area. In 2005, she enrolled at Pacific University and obtained a nursing degree. Aikin's mother, a registered nurse also, is a Professor of Nursing at the university. After that, she started working as an emergency room nurse.
In 2010, she was nominated for a GMA Dove Award for New Artist of the Year at the 41st GMA Dove Awards.
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
